Richard (Red) had been a truck driver most of his life. A serious on-the-job accident landed him in the hospital with a broken neck and the uncertainty of whether or not he would ever be able to walk again.

Red is an extremely determined individual, and he was not about to accept disability and unemployment for the remainder of his life. After Red was back on his feet, he set a new goal for himself—to obtain training in CAD and enter a new line of work.

At the start of his journey, Red was not yet ready for work at the college level. He had essentially no computer background and needed to gain basic skills before he could start courses in CAD. DePaul Industries Training Center in Salem was written into his plan as a step to prepare him for attendance at Chemeketa Community College.

Red accepts nothing but “A” level work from himself. He completed DePaul’s 2005 catalogue version Office Specialist I program in May and moved on to college classes for the summer term. He will be at Chemeketa for two years, and he believes that this would not have been possible without the training he received through DePaul.